Thomas hoping Corelli gets firm turf for the Red Smith
Corelli is the kind of horse who likes to hear his feet rattle, and he could get the course condition he prefers Saturday for the Grade 2, $200,000 Red Smith at Aqueduct.
The race for 3-year-olds and up over a mile and three-eighths on the grass should be run under sunny skies. Forecasters are calling for a high of 50 degrees.
This could make for firm ground, which would suit Corelli, according to his trainer, Jonathan Thomas.
“He came over from Europe to get away from the soft ground,” he said.
Corelli is part of a competitive 10-horse field. Others set to start include Grade 1 winner Channel Cat, the Chad Brown-trained duo of Serve the King and Value Engineering, and the Todd Pletcher trainees Shamrocket and No Word.
Corelli is a two-time stakes winner who comes into the Red Smith off a fast-closing fourth in the Grade 3 Knickerbocker over a mile and an eighth on turf Oct. 10 at Belmont Park.
“He came rolling,” said Thomas, who trains Corelli for Augustin Stable. “He was left with a little too much to do, but ran one of his biggest numbers out of the race.
“The horse is training great. A mile and three-eighths is about as far as he wants to run. In order to get the trip, he needs kind of firmish ground.”
Corelli earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 95 in the Knickerbocker, a few points off the career-best 99 he earned in 2020 when third in the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth Park.
Corelli’s most significant win came in August, when he captured the Grade 3 Singspiel over a mile and a quarter on turf at Woodbine. He closed from next to last for a 1 3/4-length win, and earned a Beyer of 93.
“He got a great setup, finished off his race well,” Thomas said. “He seems to be at his best going a mile and a quarter. It’s a super rare distance on the grass. A mile to a mile and an eighth is a little sharp and a mile and three eighths, that’s as far, ultimately, that he wants to run.
“He’s a nice horse. He always shows up. If he’s run poorly, it’s when I’ve run him on soft ground.”
Corelli is a son of Point of Entry. His stakes-winning dam, Vignette, has produced a Group 1-winning millionaire in Lucarno and a pair of Group 2 winners in Thought Worthy and Flying Officer.
Corelli will break from post 6 under Manny Franco.
Channel Cat will start to his immediate outside under John Velazquez. Channel Cat, who has more natural speed than a number of his rivals, will add blinkers for the Red Smith. He comes off a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs in September.
“He lacked that little bit of spark in his past couple of starts and the addition of blinkers will help him do that,” trainer Jack Sisterson told the New York Racing Association. “In the race at Kentucky Downs, he didn’t make the lead and didn’t really finish up. I felt that there was something missing the last two races and I think blinkers will help.”
Channel Cat’s career-defining victory came at a mile and three-eighths on the grass, in the Grade 1 Man o’ War in May at Belmont Park.
:: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures.
Channel Cat, who races for his breeder, Calumet Farm, is one of two sons of English Channel in the Red Smith. The champion turf horse died last week. English Channel also is represented Saturday by Tide of the Sea, winner of the Grade 3 W.L. McKnight in January at Gulfstream Park.
Brown trainee Serve the King owns the field’s best last-race Beyer, a 100 for his runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Oct. 9 at Belmont Park. Prior to that race he won the John’s Call at Saratoga. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount from post 4.
Value Engineering is making his stakes debut after winning a two-other-than allowance over a mile and an eighth on the grass Oct. 21 at Belmont. Dylan Davis will be aboard from post 2.
Shamrocket won the Point of Entry Stakes over a mile and a half on turf Oct. 24 at Belmont. Pletcher has given the mount to Javier Castellano. The trainer has named Jose Lezcano to ride No Word, a full brother to multiple Grade 2 winner Silentio. No Word was fifth last out in the Knickerbocker.